Miguel Cotto faces Sadam Ali in his Retirement Fight

There is no doubt that Miguel Cotto has been one of the greatest and most entertaining boxers of the last decade. Bleacherreport's Briggs Seekins even stated in an article of his that Cotto was one of the 10 greatest boxers of the 2000s.

He has had success ever since his debut in 2001, having some of the greatest fights ever like those against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather, jr., Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito, and Shane Mosely. He's primarily known for his power and ring ability, being able to cut people off and stick his powerful jab and lead hook into them. He is also great at ripping body shots.

However despite his ability in the ring, and what he's proven over the years, Miguel Cotto is at the end of his career. He's been fighting against the intangible opponent that every fighter has to submit to eventually: time. After his last loss in 2015 to Canelo, many thought it was time for Cotto to hang up the gloves. He looked much slower than he had been previously in his career and although Canelo's speed is like lightning, Cotto still showed diminished skill due to aging in this fight and it didn't look good for him to keep boxing for long.

In 2016, according to ESPN, Cotto first wanted a rematch with Canelo in 2016, saying that he would retire if he didn't get the rematch. He later was open to other opponents, and although he had so much time off since last fighting he didn't seem to be doubtful, that's for sure. Instead of facing Canelo or another high-level opponent, he was given IBO ranked 19th and 34 year old fighter Yoshihiro Kamegai. They faced off on August 26, 2017 (same night as Mayweather vs. McGregor) for the vacant WBO Super Welterweight title. While many expected Cotto to perform how he did against Alavarez, he actually turned back the clock and out-boxed Kamegai and won a Unanimous Decision over him.

After this, Cotto had other plans in terms of what to do next. He did however state that he is planning to retire, also according to ESPN. "I'm ready to move on," Cotto said. "I'm ready to start thinking of my family, start thinking of other things less dangerous than boxing."'

As the WBO World Super Welterweight champ prepares for retirement on more fight lies on his horizon before he rides into the sunset. On December 12th, Miguel Cotto will face 25-1 Boxer Sadam Ali at Madison Square Garden in a 12 round bout for the WBO Super Welterweight Title. This will be Cotto's 10th fight at The Garden, and he is very successful in the venue as he has 8 wins out of his 9 fights there, showing he can perform on fighting's biggest stage without detriment to his performance due to nerves.

Cotto Currently has a 41-5 record with 33 KO's. His last TKO came in 2015 and he is hoping to come out on top of Ali so he can leave boxing with a Win and as the champion. Andre Rozier, who is the coach of Ali, said that: '"We will be victorious."' but Cotto just took this as a challenge and offered this as a reply: '"I know that he's going to do his best at his camp, I'm going to do my best at my camp," "...And we're going to bring a good show here on Dec. 2."'

Overall this could be a tough fight for Cotto's last match because of how much younger Ali is (Ali is 29, Cotto is going to be 37). But overall it is a good symbol of how Cotto has approached his career. He has always fought whoever he had to no matter how good they were, and now he is up to one last challenge before he hangs up the boxing gloves for good.